This monograph of the 2008 John Bowlby Memorial Conference brings together papers by leading contributors to the field of attachment and trauma that explore the means by which individuals struggle to cope with exposure to war zones, both large scale conflicts and societal breakdown, and the domestic war zones where adults and children experience violence and sexual abuse. These papers seek to further our understanding of the intergenerational transmission of experiences of trauma, as in the examples of the Holocaust and slavery. In times where talk of terror is everywhere, psychotherapists offer a clinical perspective on terror which may translate to the world at large.

Papers by Professor Arietta Slade, Shoshi Asheri, Dr Joseph Schwartz, Adah Sachs, Bernice Laschinger and Dick Blackwell explore topics such as: experiences of terror states in the consulting room; the multiple survival strategies engaged by people struggling to cope with exposure to relational and environmental war zones; the intergenerational transmission of trauma and terror within an historical and cultural framework; the connection between therapists' own experiences of terror and those of their clients; how therapists may appropriately adapt their approach to include those who have been seen as 'unanalysable'; how the non-verbal aspects of a terrorised person's experience can be safely and effectively worked with therapeutically and the implications for the therapeutic frame and technique; and how we might more adequately provide support and legitimacy within the profession for work 'on the edge'.

Reviews and Endorsements

15th John Bowlby Memorial Conference - 2008 Monograph

‘Judy Yellin and Orit Badouk Epstein have brought together a slim volume that packs a mighty punch. Readers are given access to prime clinical, social, and political reflections on the role of fear within and between people, how to manage terrifying emotions, and promote individual and social change. There is a deep and enriching experience for all who engage with this important book.’— Howard Steele, PhD, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Psychology at the New School for Social Research, New York; co-editor of Clinical Applications of the Adult Attachment Interview; and editor of the Journal of Attachment and Human Development

‘Clinicians speak of anxiety, but seldom of fear and even less often of terror – topics that are so raw and nerve-shattering that we recoil from contemplating them deeply. Yet the authors and editors in this book courageously look fear and terror in the face and encourage others to do so as well – on behalf of our own unprocessed terror, that of patients we see, and of the world in which we live. While it is well known that fear of separation and loss triggers the attachment system, putting fear – much less terror – in the spotlight strains the emotional capacities of even the most secure therapists. This book encourages us to look “within and without”, to share the fear states and terror states of our patients and clients as a means for co-creating a new reality with room for hope and trusting connection. A profound, moving, and much-needed book on the most painful of human and clinical experiences.’— Judith Kay Nelson, PhD, psychotherapist and former Dean of The Sanville Institute for Clinical Social Work and Psychotherapy, California; and author of Seeing Through Tears: Crying and Attachment and What Made Freud Laugh: An Attachment Perspective onLaughter

About the Editor(s)

Judy Yellin trained at The Bowlby Centre. She works as a psychotherapist in private practice and is a member of the teaching staff on the The Bowlby Centre's psychotherapy training. She frequently teaches attachment theory and relational psychotherapy in other psychotherapy training organizations. She also has a legal background and, prior to training as a therapist, specialized as a solicitor in family law and public law in relation to child protection. Judy has a particular interest in questions of attachment, sexuality, and gender, and in working with lesbians, gay men, and transgendered clients from a relational perspective. She is an associate of Pink Therapy, an organization offering affirmative psychotherapy to sexual minority clients, as well as training for psychotherapists in working effectively with the LGBT communities. She is a founder member of The Relational School and a member of its Steering and Education Committees.

Orit Badouk Epstein is an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist and supervisor who trained at The Bowlby Centre, London where she is a member of the executive committee. She works as a relational psychotherapist in private practice and has a particular interest and passion for working with individuals who have experienced extreme abuse and trauma, DID, ritual abuse and working relationally with parents.